The Hand They Were Dealt
by HedwigBlack
Summary: For the Ten To One Challenge. The Harry Potter characters face life's problems. Bad Summary. Reviews appreciated.
1. Out Of Excuses

**For the Ten to One Challenge. I've been given 10 characters with 10 corresponding prompts and I shall write a chapter for each one. Chapter 11 will include all of the characters.**

**First character/prompt : Nymphadora Tonks/ different**

* * *

Tonks crossed her arms, waiting for Remus to run out of excuses. He finally acknowledged that she is not so easily convinced out of love and sat down with his head in his hands.

Finally she softened her stance and made her case.

"If you're only objections are because you are older, and broken, and a werewolf, then you are going to have to come up with something better. I know what it's like to be different, remember?"

He looked up to see her scrunch up her face and suddenly her hair was long and blue. Seconds later it was spiky and purple. Then she appeared to have a brilliant idea and changed one last time so that she had green dreadlocks. It was too comical for both of them.

But then she held his face in her hands and said very seriously, "If you don't want to be with me, it had better be because you don't love me."

He kissed her palm and sighed in defeat. "You know that isn't true."


	2. Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind

** Character/Prompt: Harry/invisible **

* * *

He opened his trunk and pulled out his treasured invisibility cloak. He put it on and went down to the Gryffindor common room and sat on the floor in a dark corner and watched. He wanted to know how it felt to not be stared at. He wanted to know what life was like when he wasn't in the room. He wanted to know what it was to be invisible.

Wizard chess and Potions homework and flirting by the fireplace. No one looking at his scar. No one talking about him behind his back. Out of sight, out of mind.

The last of the students went up to their dormitories. Harry reveled in the silence for a few minutes. Then he slowly took off the cloak, stuffed it in his bag, and went up to bed.

"Where were you?" Ron asked.

Harry discreetly put the cloak back in his trunk and shrugged. "Around."


	3. Ready

**Character/Prompt: Luna Lovegood/Belong**

* * *

Luna Lovegood wondered if she was the only one who had kept her fake Galleon. She wondered if any of the D.A. were going to respond to Hermione's call to arms. She wondered if anyone else had missed those meetings as much as she did.

Luna was used to being alone. She had never minded it really. That is, until she joined the D.A.

She had finally found somewhere to belong.

So when she felt the coin grow warm in her pocket after so many months, she couldn't help but jump in excitement. She ran out of the common room toward the Room of Requirement. On the way she almost ran into Neville. He clapped her on the shoulder. "Are you ready?"

"I've been ready."


	4. Lost

**Character/Prompt: Hannah/Lost**

* * *

Cedric Diggory was dead. It was all anyone talked about. The Hufflepuff champion was dead.

Hannah lay on her bed thinking it all over. There were no more tears left to cry. There were no more emotions left to feel. She was just lost.

Cedric had been a friend. He was a wonderful Quidditch player, a brave competitor, a seventeen year old. And now he was dead.

Hannah knew she couldn't blame Harry Potter. She wanted to and she had blamed him for so many other things before. But she knew that he had been right about You-Know-Who all along. You-Know-Who killed Cedric. Now it was personal. She clenched her hands and her nails pierced her palms. Something must be done.


	5. Can't or Won't

**Character/Prompt: Demelza/Trust**

* * *

The memory of his hand around her wrist makes her hesitate. He was not angry at her but she was the closest thing to take his anger out on. It's the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And with the wrong person.

Demelza is horrified by the bruises Cormac leaves on her skin. But while those marks fade, the scars on her memory remain. She wants to be able to trust someone enough to let them in but she knows she can't. Or maybe she just won't. Can't or won't… she can't decide.


	6. Draco This, Draco That

**Character/Prompt: Tracey Davis/Believe**

* * *

Tracey changes into her pajamas and pretends to care about whatever Pansy has to say. She knows better than to believe her. Pansy is such a pathological liar. She wonders if everyone is that dense that they don't realize it too.

Tracey gets in bed and pulls the pillow over her head trying to drown out Pansy's voice.

Draco this… Draco that… Draco…

Draco is every Slytherin girl's dream and somehow Pansy had gotten him to ask her out. She probably made up a famous uncle and a fortune to get his attention. In spite of herself Tracey feels warm tears roll down her face and she is thankful the pillow is shielding it from everyone else. She knows half of what Pansy says is false but she still wants what she has.

She wants Draco.


	7. Giving Up

**Character/Prompt: Wayne Hopkins/Books**

* * *

Wayne didn't want to study anymore. He stared at the tower of books on the table in the library as if that would help him retain any information in them. He looked over at Hermione Granger poring over a large Arithmancy book. He wished he could do half as well on his exams as she did.

O.W.L.S. would be the death of him. He was sure of it. He went back to studying Potions but nothing he read meant anything to him. He knew there were twelve uses for pixie tears but for the life of him he couldn't remember what they were.

He sighed and packed his things. He gave up.

Because that's what he always did.


	8. All Over Again

**Character/Prompt: Dean Thomas/ Fire**

* * *

Dean stared into the fire, ignoring the goblin across from him. He had decided that goblins were creepy but what choice did he have? This one was friendly enough in his own way, but he liked to watch the wizard's every move and it was disconcerting.

Dean sighed. He wished he knew what to do about his situation. Running was exhausting, not to mention against his Gryffindor instincts. But in these dark times a Muggleborn can only do so much.

He twirled his wand in his hand, recalling the day he had entered Ollivander's shop to get it. At the time he had been so excited. Had he known then what he knew now, would he have chosen a wand (or rather, let a wand choose him)?

The flames crackled and it seemed they were rising up inside of him as he proudly realized that the answer was yes. He would do it all over again and he wouldn't change a thing.


	9. Warmer

**Character/Prompt: Terry Boot/Find**

* * *

Terry watched from the corner as Luna crawled on her hands and knees. It was a pity the other Ravenclaws didn't like her all that much. He had never taken notice of her until the D.A. meetings. She was a bit odd maybe. But she was one of the nicest girls he had ever met.

And he happened to know where something of hers was hidden.

"You're getting warmer," he called.

She looked up at him, puzzled.

"I know where they put your bracelet. You don't need to be on the floor though."

She grinned and got up. She looked around her and moved towards the window.

Terry shook his head. "You're getting cold now."

She moved in the other direction toward the bookshelf. "Warmer…warmer…"

She let her fingers brush the worn titles of the books until…"Stop." Her hand hovered over a large encyclopedia of charms. "Take it out."

She pulled the book off the shelf and behind it was her bracelet she'd lost the second day of term.

"Thank you," she said dreamily.

Terry got up and went over to her. "Come on. I'll help you find the rest of your stuff."


	10. Home, Sweet Home

**Character/Prompt: Sirius/Home**

* * *

Sirius used all of his energy to pull the curtain over his mother's face. It had been decades since he'd been in this hellhole. He surveyed his surroundings. This was nothing like the place he remembered. The whole building smelled of mold and dust. Everything was dark and dirty.

Kreacher verbally abused him from the next room. He went upstairs past the house-elf heads on the wall and down the hall to his bedroom. He opened the door to find everything just as he had left it.

And yet everything was different.

He grabbed the first thing within reach, a glass vase with the remains of some flowers in it, and threw it at the wall in frustration. The smash of the glass against the wood was satisfying but the shrieks of his mother's portrait followed immediately.

He sighed as he walked back downstairs to shut her up.

Home, sweet home.


	11. I Am The Sorting Hat

**Prompt: Innocence, Characters: All**

* * *

I am the Sorting Hat and I hate my job.

I only do it once a year so I don't expect you to feel sorry for me. But you must know it is very stressful being me. Have you ever thought about the importance of sorting? Have you really?

You see, everyone is always told that part of growing up is playing with the hand you are dealt. But I am here to tell you that this is not entirely true. For Hogwarts students it is about dealing with the life I sort them into.

I remember every student I've ever sorted. Every. Single. One. And I wonder what their life would have been like if I'd sorted them into a different house. I think the first day of term is when those first years lose their innocence. They learn to become what is expected of them. It's a shame.

Do you think Nymphadora Tonks belonged in Hufflepuff? Looking back on it, I think I made a grave mistake putting her there. She was kind hearted, yes. And I overheard in the headmaster's office that she had fallen in love with a werewolf. That's such a Hufflepuff thing to do. But she would have done well in Ravenclaw. She was studious enough and what she lacked in spatial awareness she made up for in brains. She was also brave enough to be a Gryffindor. She never hesitated and she may have been a bit reckless. But I put her in Hufflepuff because… well…it seemed like a good idea at the time.

What if I hadn't?

Let's not forget Harry Potter. I should have put him into Slytherin. I told him so. But he insisted. _Not Slytherin. Not Slytherin. Not Slytherin. _What is a poor Sorting Hat to do? Usually kids will tell me what house they want and most times I'll give it to them unless they are only kidding themselves. But Harry Potter told me he didn't want Slytherin. And sometimes knowing what you don't want is more important than thinking you know what you do want. So Gryffindor it was. And perhaps the Wizarding world should be thankful for that.

But I won't take credit for listening to an eleven year old.

There is one student who I had no clue what to do with. Luna Lovegood. She was an odd bird. Her head was full of nonsense. Yet it was also a head full of potential. She was brilliant but crazy. Perhaps Hufflepuff would have been the best choice, but somehow Luna belonged in Ravenclaw. Or at least I thought so. I heard she ended up doing some crazy things. And in the end when push came to shove she was probably a Gryffindor. I think that's true for everyone.

Or at least I'd like to think so.

That was the way with Hannah Abbott. She was an emotional one. She wasn't the brightest either. But perhaps I was too harsh on her. Perhaps I should have sorted her elsewhere. It might have done her good. She could have made friends with some worthy Gryffindors. What if she spent seven years of her life as a Slytherin? How would things have been different? We'll never know.

That thought haunts me.

Oh, Demelza. Demelza Robbins. She had a beautiful mind. She could have been a Ravenclaw but there was a fierceness in her that made me lean toward Gryffindor_. I'm a Gryffindor. I just know it._ Who was I to argue? But I heard something about a certain Cormac McLaggen in the headmaster's office. Perhaps he was the one I sorted wrong. I feel responsible somehow for putting them in the same common room.

It's quite horrifying.

I suppose if it hadn't been Demelza it would have been another girl. Perhaps Tracey Davis. She was a tough one to sort as well. She was cunning but I think she was above the pettiness that is often found in Slytherins. It's a shame she wasn't in Ravenclaw. It was an afterthought as she sat down at the Slytherin table. But it was too late. Or was it? No one said I couldn't call out "Wait! That's not right! I meant RAVENCLAW!"

But I never have.

There's another one I definitely sorted wrong. His name was Wayne Hopkins. I put him in Hufflepuff. Why? He could have been a Ravenclaw. He had so much potential. But he was weak. He was lazy. So I decided Hufflepuff was the place for him. But for a long time afterward I thought I should have just put him in Ravenclaw. Maybe being surrounded by other brilliant people would be just what he needed to find his motivation. That's what I should have done.

But I didn't.

Dean Thomas was a remarkable human being. He was a Gryffindor. There was no doubt in my mind. That boy was a Gryffindor. But he had no idea what he was getting himself into. He had just found out he was a wizard and now he was sitting in the middle of the Great Hall with me on his head. He could have stayed at home with the Muggles. He could have changed his mind. I remember his thoughts. _This was a mistake_. But then I reassured him that he belonged somewhere. In "GRYFFINDOR!" to be exact.

Was that a mistake?

Terry Boot was a mistake. He should not have been in Ravenclaw. He was a Hufflepuff. I am certain of it now. He was too kind and compassionate to be anything else. That poor kid got put into the most pretentious group of Ravenclaws I've ever sorted. It occurred to me later that the rest of the students I put in that house that day were not like him. And I regretted putting him there.

I'm sorry, Terry.

But I want to tell you all my biggest regret. I know for a fact that I ruined this man's life. It all started when I put him into Gryffindor. It was a snowball effect. I put Sirius Black in Gryffindor and if he could see it from my point of view, I know he would tear me to shreds. I should have put him in Slytherin with the rest of his pureblood family. It would have been the sensible thing to do. But no. I put him in a house, in a common room, in a dormitory with James Potter and Peter Pettigrew. This led to a fight against the Dark Lord, and a thirteen year stay in Azkaban, and life as an escaped convict because of a crime he did not commit. You can blame Pettigrew all you want.

But the fault was mine.

There are so many others that I sorted wrong. There are so many lives I've ruined. What was Godric thinking letting a hat make important life decisions for impressionable children? How much longer until the staff finally sees that my judgment is not to be trusted?

I am the Sorting Hat and I hate my job.


End file.
